NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Monday, August 16, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Islands NS
NPS Marine Ecologist Pulls Two From Burning Vehicle
Just before dawn on August 13th, Peter Craig, a marine ecologist from National Park of American Samoa who's been detailed to the oil spill incident as a resource advisor, was en route to Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge near Gulf Shores when he came across a motor vehicle accident. A Mercedes had struck a tree and flipped over. Craig was the second person who arrived at the scene. While he was attempting to assist a man entrapped inside, the vehicle burst into flames. With persistence, Craig managed to drag the conscious victim out of a window by his legs. He then extinguished the man's burning clothes with his bare hands and his shirt. Rescue personnel soon arrived on scene and airlifted the victim to a trauma center in Pensacola with life-threatening injuries. A second entrapped person, who was not verbally responsive while Craig was proving aid, died at the scene. Craig was treated and released for burns to his hand. [Clay Jordan, Chief Ranger]
Grand Teton NP
Injured Runner Evacuated From Lower Saddle
In a rescue operation that took less than an hour, rangers evacuated an injured runner from the 11,650-foot Lower Saddle on the morning of Tuesday, August 12th. M.E., 26, of Wilson, Wyoming, was on a day trip, attempting to run to the Lower Saddle and back. M.E. was at the Lower Saddle when she took a misstep on a rock just before 11:00 a.m., causing an injury that prevented her from hiking out on her own. Two rangers who were already on patrol at the Saddle assisted M.E. and provided initial emergency medical care before requesting an aerial evacuation. One ranger accompanied the helicopter to the Lower Saddle, where they picked up M.E. and flew her inside the ship down to Lupine Meadows. From there, M.E. drove herself to a medical care facility. This marks the eighth major search and rescue operation of the season conducted by Grand Teton rangers. [Jacki Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]
Bighorn Canyon NRA
Cemetery Vandals Sentenced
On Wednesday, August 4th, three local juveniles pled guilty in federal court to vandalizing the Kane Cemetery over a five day period last fall. The juveniles admitted to ‘just horsing around' by spray painting, pushing over and breaking headstones within the cemetery. The federal magistrate judge fined each juvenile $750, $2517.54 restitution for cemetery damages, 40 hours of community service, and six months of unsupervised probation, including a 9 p.m. curfew provision. The Kane Cemetery is located in the park near Lovell, Wyoming, where it served the communities of Kane and Iona between the early 1900's and 1965. The investigation was a great example of interagency effort and cooperation between Bighorn Canyon NRA rangers, NPS Investigative Services Branch special agents, and officers and investigators from the Bighorn County Sheriff's Department, the Lovell Police Department and the Powell Police Department Investigation Unit. [Kevin Tillman Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
he following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):
Everglades NP - The park has prepared a plan for an eco-friendly rehabilitation of the Flamingo area, which was heavily damaged by hurricanes several years ago.
Great Smoky Mountains NP - During the sweltering days of July, the park was host to an annual summer archeological field program that connected enrolled Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian high school students from the Cherokee and Snowbird communities with their ancestral past. Photo.
Mammoth Cave NP - The park and several partners have received four Emmy awards for a new one-hour documentary entitled Mammoth Cave: A Way To Wonder. Photo.
Office of International Affairs - The April-June 2010 NPS International Programs Quarterly Bulletin is now available. A link is provided.
Workforce Management - Angela R. Hargrove has been selected as the chief of Service's Office of Human Resources. As head of this office, she will manage the HR policy and program development staff at the national level. Photo.
NPS incident submission standards can be found online at the HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" serious incident notification web page.
* * * *
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
--- ### ---